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IDSA Files To Block Violent Gaming Law

Posted by simoniker on from the freedom-of-choice dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Yahoo/Reuters story indicating that the IDSA games trade body has filed a lawsuit against the Washington state videogame violence law. The law, restricting the sale to minors of games featuring violence against police, was passed a few days ago, and the IDSA are filing to have it struck down, saying "..while we share the state's objective to restrict the ability of children to purchase games that might not be appropriate for them, we passionately oppose efforts to achieve this goal by running roughshod over the constitutional rights of video game publishers, developers and retailers to make and sell games that depict images some find objectionable."

3 of 11 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm by Lshmael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "I'm confident our common-sense law will be upheld. Unlike the St. Louis ordinance recently struck down by the Eighth District Court of Appeals, our state law is narrowly focused on the compelling state interest of protecting the safety of law enforcement officers and firefighters," Dickerson said.

    Firefighters?! Where did they come in? Are there even any games that involve the killing of firefighters?

    1. Re:Hmm by Babbster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even more amusing about that quote is the idea that the law "[protects] the safety of law enforcement officers..." I haven't seen studies showing that people who kill police officers in video games are more likely to waste a real police officer. While it is indeed a "compelling state interest" to protect public servants engaged in dangerous jobs, shouldn't laws designed to serve that interest be based in reality?

  2. New law will cause me trouble! by Xtifr · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was about to release a new game: "Cop Invaders", where rows of policemen move back and forth across the screen, and you have to shoot them before they reach the bottom. It also may cause problems for another game I had in the works, "Cop Man", where you run around a maze, dodging cops, and trying to get to the energy pellets which allow you to turn around and eat the cops.

    (I wonder if anyone on /. will be old enough to get the references...)

    On a more serious note, this law would seem to ban Nethack. (If you successfully escape from a store in Nethack with upaid items, you get attacked by "the Keystone Cops".) Since Nethack is included with most Linux/BSD systems, this law would seem to ban the sale of Linux/BSD systems in WA state. I seriously hope that more than just the game developers come out to oppose this ridiculous law.